When Toyota moved production of mid-sized Tacomas to its San Antonio plant, the facility used the lean principle of heijunka or leveling to integrate production with the full-size Tundra. In a departure from Toyota's traditional practice of building more than one model in a facility, the plant had been dedicated to Tundras. Heijunka means the plant will alternate production of the half-ton Tundra and the smaller Tacoma one right after the other, rather using than the traditional automotive practice of building a big batch of one, then a big batch of the other. (San Antonio Express News)

Whether you are fixing a manufacturing or office value stream, lean is “about the creation of a problem solving and fast-learning culture,” said Jim Luckman, a faculty member at the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute.  Luckman who has been a manufacturing plant manager, an R&D center manager, and head of a small startup company, recently discussed how to apply value-stream mapping in nonmanufacturing value streams with Business901 podcast host Joe Dager. One of the workshops Luckman teaches for LEI is on Value-Stream Mapping for the Office and Service

In a traditional logistics system, suppliers often ship when they want and what they want. "That's like going to the supermarket and having other people put groceries in your cart," said Kevin von Grabe, co-author of the LEI workbook Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream, during an appearance on the Lean Nation radio show. He explained the advantages of  lean  logistics, including better supply chain visibility and predictability. He also discussed implementation, especially how to get suppliers and customers on board the transformation. Click the link to listen to the show.